Technology has been either a major hindrance or gateway for scalable brand growth during a pandemic. Numerous white label platforms have the power to convert a brick-and-mortar experience into a digital one. However, then begins the endless fight for awareness in organic content and keeping up with the competition’s ADs. This endless cycle of strategy and algorithms often leaves brands seeking expert guidance from either freelancers or agencies. If you asked a few years ago if a brand should hire a freelancer or agency my answer would be different.
Agency hustle culture is born out of the insatiable need to consume information first within the tech industry. Everyone is chasing the same algorithms and inventing different ways to sell awareness and engagement.
Influencers lead most brand campaigns on social media and technology is evolving to meet their creative demands. Instagram disrupted the PR industry by making exposure accessible to anyone without a need for agency representation. What was supposed to be a 2-week break is now almost 3 years later. Burnt-out creatives working from a home office are asking themselves why they couldn’t market themselves without agency representation.
The great resignation has clearly had corporate impact, but what does the future of freelance mean for small businesses?
I’ve met with so many teams who are often doing all the right things and feel deflated about performance. The majority of the time their work is great but the content is simply placed on the wrong channels. Form follows function in the user experience world and yet brands often request a redesign before discussing research or data. Strategists sell audits because brands often request a scope to treat a performance symptom instead of addressing the root cause.
Websites like Upwork and Fiverr are marketing candy without any real strategy nutrients for community building. It seems like a low cost solution but leaves marketers constantly searching for and onboarding creatives to their brand guidelines. Any perceived savings are burned on hours playing creative director and project manager instead of a marketing strategist.
5 Reasons Small Businesses Should Leverage Freelance Opportunities Fueled by the Creator Economy
1. Lower Cost Software
Adobe Creative Suite products aren’t king and queen of the creative community anymore. Free creative software like Canva and Procreate have provided an accessible point of entry to freelance. Agencies pay a premium for collaborative software and therfore have made the switch to Figma. However, solopreneurs and freelancers can leverage free tools and offer the same quality product.
Emerging technology isn’t just affecting the design industry. It’s no secret development is the most expensive part of any project and the most competitive market to resource. I’m sure you’ve heard of Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress which only offer a templated approach to websites… or do they? WordPress released a powerful visual editor called Gutenberg in December of 2018. Obtaining a custom look and feel is no longer only obtainable by going through an agency. Content Management Systems can handle both design and development out of the box in ways that were only previously offered by complicated plugins that required a support team to keep up with updates.
The secret to fast website production is drafting a strong content map. Freelance strategists can offer that at a lower price point what understand interface best practices are expiring freelance. Solutions like Webflow satiate the needs of strategists who can design and develop all within a single interface.
Why are agencies still charging for full-time employees if creative technology has evolved past departments?
Wireframes and flat design files are just a formality for department hand-off and client approvals that honestly isn’t needed with advancements in rapid website prototyping.
2. Lower Cost Timelines
A career as an agency creative naturally comes with the expectations to balance multiple clients at once and are constantly on a quest for that illustrious flow state to do deep thinking work. Sure, project managers help with workflow and capacity but ultimately everyone is at mercy to all clients and their fluctuating needs. Teams make plans only to have them change the next day and often spend time in internal meetings informing project managers instead of the other way around.
Most creatives spend their day in meetings and are then expected to create after hours. Remote work is all about efficient communication and all-time has a limit. How many pieces of a project are outsourced to third parties in order to meet an urgent timeline? That has a cost. The good, fast, cheap triangle dilemma is no joke.
Hiring a freelance strategist is like installing an efficient marketing machine with a centralized computer system to alert any errors on the production line. Having a single brain monitoring up upstream and downstream manufacturing means timelines are more accurate and affordable.
3. Diverse Representation
Any limitations commuting to an office caused were alleviated when remote work became accessible in the pandemic. What was once referred to as accommodations in HR is now our new working normal. This presents brands with an opportunity to have direct impact on selecting and paying a diverse team. Social politics don’t really matter anymore in a remote tech world which means the candidates who were “really smart but not really client facing” have a new world of opportunities.
How many white men are in your current marketing team meetings? Yet, if brands are truly targeting a Gen Z or Millennial audiences why are agencies still using demographic personas?
Authentic audience representation and brand connection comes from creatives with relational diversity.
4. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Tech
Agencies have a reputation for suggesting a full redesign when asked to make enhancements. That’s because they need to make award-winning work in order to land the next client and maintain their talent. An agency case study is no different than the dealership logo on the back of a new car and let’s be real they prefer to drive Teslas.
The reality is most projects could be a DIY flip but a brand isn’t actually buying the end product. They’re buying the process. An agency can’t afford for their mechanics to fix 20 used cars at once over a long period of time and be still be profitable because those are usually their highest salaried specialists. It’s in an agency’s best interest to start a project from scratch to leverage familiar documentation, team roles, and communication patterns.
Freelancers provide direct access to diagnose and solve problems to earn client referrals. New technology only means new opportunity.
5. Reimagined Collaboration
So how has the process agencies sell changed? The enterprise technology market is also saturated. Most platforms are in a race to be the next one-stop intranet package. Microsoft may reign right now but Sharepoint should be shaking in their boots with Notion on the scene. Airtable is coming for Excel and Miro eliminates the need to ever brainstorm in person again.
While enterprise offices may be proposing mandatory hybrid schedules or set back to work dates, most creative professionals are advocating for WFH to stay to attain healthier work-life balance. Agency life used to mimic big tech culture with impressive lounges, beverages on tap, and company parties for both clients and employees. However, with the majority of the creative workforce still working remotely the power dynamics have completely shifted in the tech industry.